Toddlers and Night Terrors

Do any of you have experience with your young children having night terrors?

DH and I are struggling with Jade and her waking up every night around the same time, usually between 11:30-12:30. Sometimes, she will get up again around 3:30am.

We have been told they are probably night terrors because when she wakes up she looks like she is awake, but isn't since she will not respond to us. She will scream uncontrollably for a good half an hour until she goes back to sleep again. Either DH or I get her when she does this. It is very scary due to how uncontrollable her screams are. She does not have ear infection, and her teeth are not bothering her at this time. No other medical problems.

She has a look of pure fear in her facial expressions, but does not
fully wake up. We do have a night light in her room, and the door to her
room is open, so it's not like she should be scared to be in her room
by herself.

When she wakes up in the morning, she is the happy, energetic girl she was when she went to bed.

Do any of you have experience with your young children having night terrors?

DH and I are struggling with Jade and her waking up every night around the same time, usually between 11:30-12:30. Sometimes, she will get up again around 3:30am.

We have been told they are probably night terrors because when she wakes up she looks like she is awake, but isn't since she will not respond to us. She will scream uncontrollably for a good half an hour until she goes back to sleep again. Either DH or I get her when she does this. It is very scary due to how uncontrollable her screams are. She does not have ear infection, and her teeth are not bothering her at this time. No other medical problems.

She has a look of pure fear in her facial expressions, but does not
fully wake up. We do have a night light in her room, and the door to her
room is open, so it's not like she should be scared to be in her room
by herself.

When she wakes up in the morning, she is the happy, energetic girl she was when she went to bed.

Yes I do. And it is awful for DS and for us. Nothing can sooth him until the terror ends. I talked to the dr and it is nothing to worry about and can last until they are 5. She suggested that if there is a specific time each night that DS is having terrors to go in about 5 or 10 mins before that and wake him up and then put him back to sleep. Apparently it will cause him to skip the terror.

Yes I do. And it is awful for DS and for us. Nothing can sooth him until the terror ends. I talked to the dr and it is nothing to worry about and can last until they are 5. She suggested that if there is a specific time each night that DS is having terrors to go in about 5 or 10 mins before that and wake him up and then put him back to sleep. Apparently it will cause him to skip the terror.

All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.Thomas Jefferson

From:
crazypants

To: jjhs

Posted: Dec-14 11:56 AM (4 of 35)

Fox went through this. It was a phase that happened quite often for about a month or two, then subsided to about once every month, then eventually it went away. It was heart-breaking :(

I found the best reaction from me was to stay in the room and monitor to make sure he didn't hurt himself. After about 5-10 minutes he would calm down and promptly be receptive to me coaching him back to sleep.

The next day he was 100% and I was a wreck :) It DOES pass. Initially I tried to hug and soothe, but he reacted to that worse than me just staying in the room making sure he didn't hurt himself.

I was told by our pediatrician (a family friend) that they are not awake. They are conscious, but not aware. Fox had no memory of his night terrors.

Fox went through this. It was a phase that happened quite often for about a month or two, then subsided to about once every month, then eventually it went away. It was heart-breaking :(

I found the best reaction from me was to stay in the room and monitor to make sure he didn't hurt himself. After about 5-10 minutes he would calm down and promptly be receptive to me coaching him back to sleep.

The next day he was 100% and I was a wreck :) It DOES pass. Initially I tried to hug and soothe, but he reacted to that worse than me just staying in the room making sure he didn't hurt himself.

I was told by our pediatrician (a family friend) that they are not awake. They are conscious, but not aware. Fox had no memory of his night terrors.

I am glad someone else can relate. I thought we were being horrible parents and ignoring some sort of medical problem she was having. It is pure torture seeing what she does when she goes through these terrors.

I was doing some research and saw that sometimes it might be a cue that they are starting to hold their bladders and need to be potty trained. Have you heard this?

I am glad someone else can relate. I thought we were being horrible parents and ignoring some sort of medical problem she was having. It is pure torture seeing what she does when she goes through these terrors.

I was doing some research and saw that sometimes it might be a cue that they are starting to hold their bladders and need to be potty trained. Have you heard this?

My 2 year old just went through this. She was having them for a few months. I learned that getting her/ holding her makes it worse. She does not know, won't remember in the morning...so what you can do is go into her room, make sure she cannot get injured/hit her head on anything and let it take it's course. They last longer if you touch them. My daughter went absolutely ballistic when I brought her into my room and tried to hug her to calm her. I went into her room, put pillows around her bed frame (she's still in a crib) and just let her go, she was back to sleep within 10 minutes. It is more frightening for you than for them, she doesn't even know she's scared. It's a sleep disturbance of some sort.

My 2 year old just went through this. She was having them for a few months. I learned that getting her/ holding her makes it worse. She does not know, won't remember in the morning...so what you can do is go into her room, make sure she cannot get injured/hit her head on anything and let it take it's course. They last longer if you touch them. My daughter went absolutely ballistic when I brought her into my room and tried to hug her to calm her. I went into her room, put pillows around her bed frame (she's still in a crib) and just let her go, she was back to sleep within 10 minutes. It is more frightening for you than for them, she doesn't even know she's scared. It's a sleep disturbance of some sort.

All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.Thomas Jefferson

From:
jjhs

To: crazypants

Posted: Dec-14 12:15 PM (8 of 35)

Thank you for sharing your experiences! I am worried that Jade will hurt herself now that she is in her crib that is converted to a toddler bed. I need to get longer railings so she does not fall off. For now, we have cushions along the bed so she doesn't hurt herself when she goes through these terrors and sometimes rolls off her bed.

Thank you for sharing your experiences! I am worried that Jade will hurt herself now that she is in her crib that is converted to a toddler bed. I need to get longer railings so she does not fall off. For now, we have cushions along the bed so she doesn't hurt herself when she goes through these terrors and sometimes rolls off her bed.

That happened to me to with my daughter, she was screaming for her brother too, so that broke my heart- she kept screaming "Baby! Baby! Baby!" I can't imagine what made her so terrified. I am glad they don't remember what it is.

That happened to me to with my daughter, she was screaming for her brother too, so that broke my heart- she kept screaming "Baby! Baby! Baby!" I can't imagine what made her so terrified. I am glad they don't remember what it is.

"It is better to be thought a fool than to put fingers to keyboard and prove it true." - Faylinn Drake

From:
SuzanneKing

To: jjhs

Posted: Dec-14 01:37 PM (11 of 35)

Yes! Thank you for posting this. I've wanted to, but wondered if it was more of a HB post.

Tatum is a month younger than Jade (according to your ticker). She has night terrors as well, she is hysterical and inconsoulable. It is heartbreaking, but she doesn't remember it in the morning. I've found some realy helpful things about it on google, but have not found anything to get through to her. In fact, I've read that we need to just let them be. That is impossible for me though.

My step sister usde to have them. She would hit my dad and scream that bees were attacking her. He would put her in the bath to wake her up. It would work, but I think that with the amount of time it took she would still be getting over it without the bath. Know what I mean?

What I have found that HELPS PREVENT Tatum from having night terrors is to make sure that she does not get overly tired. I've noticed a parallel with when she stays up way too late and when she has night terrors.

Either way, it is normal and will not cause long term damage.

Yes! Thank you for posting this. I've wanted to, but wondered if it was more of a HB post.

Tatum is a month younger than Jade (according to your ticker). She has night terrors as well, she is hysterical and inconsoulable. It is heartbreaking, but she doesn't remember it in the morning. I've found some realy helpful things about it on google, but have not found anything to get through to her. In fact, I've read that we need to just let them be. That is impossible for me though.

My step sister usde to have them. She would hit my dad and scream that bees were attacking her. He would put her in the bath to wake her up. It would work, but I think that with the amount of time it took she would still be getting over it without the bath. Know what I mean?

What I have found that HELPS PREVENT Tatum from having night terrors is to make sure that she does not get overly tired. I've noticed a parallel with when she stays up way too late and when she has night terrors.

Ok, longtime lurker but I want to respond to this. From what you described it sounds definitely like night terrors which are different from nightmares in that they don't remember anything in the morning about it. If they tell you they got scared at night and remember something, it's more likely to be a nightmare.We had the same problem with my son and felt terrible about not being able to help him. I looked it up on the internet and the best advise I ever got was also the easiest. You need to wake up your child a little before they've been asleep for 2 hours. Don't remember all the details, but after 2 hours they go into a certain sleep pattern and that's when they have the terrors. Don't wake them up completely, just shake them a little so they move and maybe complain a little and then leave them. I did it and my son never had a problem again, but you need to do it a few minutes before the 2 hour mark for it to work best.

Good luck, hope it helps!

Ok, longtime lurker but I want to respond to this. From what you described it sounds definitely like night terrors which are different from nightmares in that they don't remember anything in the morning about it. If they tell you they got scared at night and remember something, it's more likely to be a nightmare.We had the same problem with my son and felt terrible about not being able to help him. I looked it up on the internet and the best advise I ever got was also the easiest. You need to wake up your child a little before they've been asleep for 2 hours. Don't remember all the details, but after 2 hours they go into a certain sleep pattern and that's when they have the terrors. Don't wake them up completely, just shake them a little so they move and maybe complain a little and then leave them. I did it and my son never had a problem again, but you need to do it a few minutes before the 2 hour mark for it to work best.

My son is only 15 months and he has been having them since about 8 months old. They freaked me out until I researched. I guess with terrors they are in stage 4 of the cycle, and when they have nightmares they are in stage 2. They usually happen in the first 2 hours they go to bed. He goes through spurts of them, he does not have them every night. Last week it happened 3 times, but it had been a couple of months before that. As he gets older, the crying is worse, and it is more heartbreaking every time. I just try to remember he doesn't remember them at all, and that he is his happy self when I get him in the morning. I hope he outgrows them soon!!! I can defnitely relate! nightterrors.org gave me a lot of info!

My son is only 15 months and he has been having them since about 8 months old. They freaked me out until I researched. I guess with terrors they are in stage 4 of the cycle, and when they have nightmares they are in stage 2. They usually happen in the first 2 hours they go to bed. He goes through spurts of them, he does not have them every night. Last week it happened 3 times, but it had been a couple of months before that. As he gets older, the crying is worse, and it is more heartbreaking every time. I just try to remember he doesn't remember them at all, and that he is his happy self when I get him in the morning. I hope he outgrows them soon!!! I can defnitely relate! nightterrors.org gave me a lot of info!

Inara has had about four night terrors in her life. They were just like what everyone else described. When we went to her two year appointment they were once again trying to push maintenance drugs for her asthma onto us specifically Singular. I asked about side effects and apparently night terrors are a common issue. I opted out of the drugs since of her history of having the night terrors and I don't want to go through that again. It just makes me wonder if the night terrors are more common now because so many doctors are pushing maintenance drugs.

I don't know if this means anything to you....

Inara has had about four night terrors in her life. They were just like what everyone else described. When we went to her two year appointment they were once again trying to push maintenance drugs for her asthma onto us specifically Singular. I asked about side effects and apparently night terrors are a common issue. I opted out of the drugs since of her history of having the night terrors and I don't want to go through that again. It just makes me wonder if the night terrors are more common now because so many doctors are pushing maintenance drugs.

My son used to get them and we'd put him in the bath as well. He didn't have them frequently, and when he did they lasted about 30 minutes. I think you're right that in the time it took us to get him into the bath and calmed down he'd be close to getting over them anyways. But for me it made me so anxious I needed to do something.

My son used to get them and we'd put him in the bath as well. He didn't have them frequently, and when he did they lasted about 30 minutes. I think you're right that in the time it took us to get him into the bath and calmed down he'd be close to getting over them anyways. But for me it made me so anxious I needed to do something.

Last night, we changed her bed time routine a little bit, and then DH woke her up gently 2.5 hours after she went to sleep because he was still up. She did not wake up once during the night, which is a miracle for us! We are going to keep doing what we did last night and hopefully not jinx ourselves. It felt wonderful for all three of us to get a good nights sleep.

Thank you for the suggestions and insights!

Last night, we changed her bed time routine a little bit, and then DH woke her up gently 2.5 hours after she went to sleep because he was still up. She did not wake up once during the night, which is a miracle for us! We are going to keep doing what we did last night and hopefully not jinx ourselves. It felt wonderful for all three of us to get a good nights sleep.

My son got night terrors every night untill we started rousing him nightly. It's really scary when they have them and it makes you feel helpless because nothing you do seems to calm them down. They're really not awake, so they don't respond to anything you try. He wasn't on any medication or doesn't have asthma, so that's the only thing we could change and luckily that worked. Lucily my younger son didn't get them, so we didn't have to deal with that again!

Glad you had a good night!

My son got night terrors every night untill we started rousing him nightly. It's really scary when they have them and it makes you feel helpless because nothing you do seems to calm them down. They're really not awake, so they don't respond to anything you try. He wasn't on any medication or doesn't have asthma, so that's the only thing we could change and luckily that worked. Lucily my younger son didn't get them, so we didn't have to deal with that again!

My daughter will be 6 soon and has had the since basically birth!! They used to happen several times a night now it will happen a couple times a week. During these episodes she pees the bed because she can't awaken from them. If I wake her to use the restroom she doesn't have them.

Don't really have advise, just letting you know your not alone.

My daughter will be 6 soon and has had the since basically birth!! They used to happen several times a night now it will happen a couple times a week. During these episodes she pees the bed because she can't awaken from them. If I wake her to use the restroom she doesn't have them.

I did an extensive research paper in college on Singulair and found that the medicine could potentially interact with certain receptors in the brain that could cause hallucinations and night terrors. Of course, even though there were a ton of people who reported getting night terrors while they were on Singulair (and they stopped after they stopped taking the medicine), the stupid FDA approved it's use anyway. There's no way I'd take that drug.

I did an extensive research paper in college on Singulair and found that the medicine could potentially interact with certain receptors in the brain that could cause hallucinations and night terrors. Of course, even though there were a ton of people who reported getting night terrors while they were on Singulair (and they stopped after they stopped taking the medicine), the stupid FDA approved it's use anyway. There's no way I'd take that drug.

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